Plasse Dennis Bradford Conway (August 4, 1932 – November 13, 2006) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

, Tiger Conway.

Professional wrestling career

Conway was born on August 4, 1932, in Shreveport, Louisiana. He grew up living on a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

with his parents and moved to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, in 1947, where he worked in a hotel. At the hotel, he met wrestler

Danny McShain Danny McShain (October 30, 1912 – July 14, 1992) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He competed in the southern United States from the 1930s to the 1960s. Early life McShain was born on October 30, 1912, in Little R ...

, who helped him get involved in wrestling. In the 1950s, when Conway made his debut, professional wrestling was segregated and people competed against others of their own race. Conway was forced to compete against only other

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

for much of his career. Conway was forced to wrestle on the "

chitterling Chitterlings ( ), sometimes spelled chitlins or chittlins, are a food most commonly made from the small intestines of pigs, though cow, lamb, goose and goat may also be used. They may be filled with a forcemeat to make sausage.''Oxford English Di ...

circuit", named after the innards of pigs that slave owners refused to eat and gave to their slaves instead. Conway won his only title, the Texas Negro Championship, in his first professional match. By the 1960s, Conway was permitted to compete against Caucasians. In a match against Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon, Vachon broke Conway's

kneecap The patella (: patellae or patellas), also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in m ...

. Later in his career, Conway formed a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

with his son, who competed as Tiger Conway Jr. His career continued into the late 1970's working with the major southern territories the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...

and the Von Erich's

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA), was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by ...

. He retired from active competition in 1979 and continued in the industry doing security and other non-wrestling jobs.

Personal life

Conway was a member of the

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Ab ...

, an organization for retired wrestlers and boxers. After his retirement from wrestling, he operated a fence-building business and was a member of the Christian Alliance for Humanitarian Aid, Inc. board of directors. Conway married Inita Conway, and they remained married until his death 56 years later. In November 2006, Conway suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in an ...

. He died on November 13, 2006, in Houston.

Championships and accomplishments

NWA Southwest Sports Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its ...

**NWA Texas Negro Championship (1 time) *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum was an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas; following the postponement of its 19th induction ceremony, planned for May 2020, and an annou ...

**Class of 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Tiger 1932 births 2006 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American people African-American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Professional wrestlers from Louisiana Sportspeople from Shreveport, Louisiana